Uploaded March 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Before C-Day was even on the horizon, Australian TV’s biggest stars were already experimenting with colour – some more successfully than others. At the 1968 Royal Melbourne Show, GTV 9 (Nine Network) introduced The King himself, Graham Kennedy, as the ‘King of Colour.’ In true Kennedy fashion, he took the title literally, painting three bold stripes onto a white wall—his own unique take on the future of Australian television.
Fast forward to 1 March 1975, and Australian television officially flickered into a new era. Colour TV arrived in all its glorious, slightly garish brilliance, marking a revolution in both living rooms and broadcast studios. The transition wasn’t without its drama—panic over ‘colour monsters,’ last-minute technical adjustments, and the challenge of ensuring news anchors didn’t look radioactive under the new lighting.
Fifty years on, we celebrate the moment when the tube went technicolour and the icons who made it unforgettable.
Discover more about the arrival of colour TV in Australia
🔗 https://www.nfsa.gov.au/collection/curated/revolution-will-be-televised
Before C-Day was even on the horizon, Australian TV’s biggest stars were already experimenting with colour – some more successfully than others. At the 1968 Royal Melbourne Show, GTV 9 (Nine Network) introduced The King himself, Graham Kennedy, as the ‘King of Colour.’ In true Kennedy fashion, he took the title literally, painting three bold stripes onto a white wall—his own unique take on the future of Australian television.
Fast forward to 1 March 1975, and Australian television officially flickered into a new era. Colour TV arrived in all its glorious, slightly garish brilliance, marking a revolution in both living rooms and broadcast studios. The transition wasn’t without its drama—panic over ‘colour monsters,’ last-minute technical adjustments, and the challenge of ensuring news anchors didn’t look radioactive under the new lighting.
Fifty years on, we celebrate the moment when the tube went technicolour and the icons who made it unforgettable.
Discover more about the arrival of colour TV in Australia
🔗 https://www.nfsa.gov.au/collection/curated/revolution-will-be-televised
